Slide assemblies for refrigerators

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to a refrigerator which has one or more storage chambers having an open, front side. An accommodating basket is installed to be slidingly withdrawn toward a front side of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body. A pair of slide channel units are installed on inner surfaces at both lateral sides of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body, respectively. A pair of slide assemblies are provided inside the pair of or more slide channel units, respectively, and slidingly couple the refrigerator main body and the accommodating basket to each other. A pair of rack gear units may be provided at outer upper sides or outer lower sides of the pair of or more slide channel units, and a pair pinion units may be installed on the accommodating basket and engage the rack gear units, respectively.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No.10-2014-0103098, filed on Aug. 11, 2014, with the Korean IntellectualProperly Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in itsentirety by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly,to a refrigerator which has an accommodating basket that is slidinglywithdrawn.

BACKGROUND

In general, a refrigerator is an apparatus that keeps food cold orfrozen using vaporization heat of a refrigerant using a cooling cycle.In the refrigerator, a cooler is installed at a rear side of a freezingchamber of a main body, and cold air is circulated by a fan, therebyperforming a cooling operation.

The refrigerator has a storage chamber that stores food, and atemperature in the storage chamber is maintained within a predeterminedrange of temperature that is required to keep food fresh. Further, thestorage chamber may be divided into a freezing chamber and arefrigerating chamber based on a temperature.

The storage chamber of the refrigerator has an open front side, and theopen front side is opened and closed by a door in order to maintain atemperature in the storage chamber at normal times.

A plurality of accommodating members such as drawers or baskets isinstalled in the storage chamber in order to easily accommodate food,and the accommodating member is installed to be slidingly withdrawn by asliding rail device from the interior of the storage chamber toward afront side of the storage chamber.

The slide rail device includes a rail which, is fixedly installed on aninner wall of the storage chamber, and a sliding member which isprovided on the accommodating member and engages the rail so that thesliding member may be withdrawn together with the accommodating memberthat is withdrawn toward a front side of the storage chamber.

By a sliding operation between the rail and the sliding member of theslide rail device, the accommodating member, which is installed in thestorage chamber, is slidingly withdrawn forward, or slidingly drawn backinto the storage chamber in a state in which the accommodating memberhas been withdrawn toward the front side of the storage chamber.

However, the slide rail device provided in the refrigerator in therelated art has a problem in that the rails and the sliding members inthat the accommodating member may deviate leftward and rightward whilebeing withdrawn arid or drawn back in.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure has been made in an effort to provide arefrigerator in which an accommodating basket, which is slidinglywithdrawn and or drawn back in, may be stably slide withoutsubstantially deviating leftward and rightward, and an accommodationcapacity of the accommodating basket may be maximized by implementing acompact slide assembly that allows the accommodating basket to slide.

If An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure provides arefrigerator including a refrigerator main body, one or moreaccommodating baskets, one or more pairs of slide channel units, one ormore pairs of slide assemblies, and one or more basket alignmentmembers. The refrigerator main body has one or more storage chambers. Apair of slide channel units are coupled to inner surfaces at bothlateral sides of a storage chamber of the refrigerator main body,respectively. A pair of slide assemblies are provided inside the pair ofslide channel unite, respectively. The pair of slide assemblies areoperable for the accommodating basket to slide into and out from an openfront side of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body. Abasket alignment member is coupled between the accommodating basket andeach later side of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body.The basket alignment member is operable for the accommodating basket tostably slide without substantially deviating side to side from thelinear direction into and out from the open front side of the storagechamber of the refrigerator main body.

The basket alignment member may include a pair of rack gear units and apair of pinion units which engage the rack gear units. The basketalignment member may further include a pinion rotation shaft coupledbetween the pair of pinion gear units.

The slide assembly may include: a guide rail which is installed to beadjacent to the slide channel unit; a sliding rail which is installedbetween the guide rail and the accommodating basket; and a middle railwhich is installed between the guide rail and the sliding rail.

The pair of pinion units, which faces each other with the accommodatingbasket interposed therebetween, may be coaxially rotated.

In the refrigerator, the rack gear unit may be installed relativelybelow the slide assembly, and teeth of the rack gear unit may protrudedownward.

In the refrigerator, the rack gear unit may be installed relativelyabove the slide assembly, and teeth of the rack gear unit may protrudeupward.

According to the refrigerator according to the exemplary embodiment ofthe present disclosure, the accommodating basket, which is slidinglywithdrawn, may be stably withdrawn without deviating leftward andrightward, and an accommodation capacity of the accommodating basket maybe maximized by implementing the compact slide assembly that allows theaccommodating basket to slide.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be inany way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments,and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and featureswill become apparent by reference to the drawings and the followingdetailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to a firstexemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view mainly illustrating a slideassembly of the refrigerator of FIG, 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view mainly illustrating the slide assemblyof the refrigerator of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view mainly illustrating a slide assembly ofa refrigerator according to a second exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view mainly illustrating a slide assembly ofa refrigerator according to a third exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawing, which forms a part hereof. The illustrativeembodiments described in the detailed description, drawing, and claimsare not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments may be utilized, andother changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope ofthe subject matter presented here.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so thatthose skilled in the technical field to which the present disclosurepertains may easily carry out the exemplary embodiments. The presentdisclosure may he implemented in various different forms, and is notlimited to the exemplary embodiments described herein.

In several exemplary embodiments, constituent elements having the sameconfiguration will be representatively described using the samereference numerals in a first exemplary embodiment, and in the otherexemplary embodiments, only configurations, which are different from theconfiguration described in the first exemplary embodiment, will bedescribed.

It should be noted that the drawings are schematically illustrated, andthe scales of the drawings may be different from the actual scales.Relative dimensions and ratios of the parts illustrated in the drawingsare exaggerated or reduced in terms of sizes thereof for clarificationof the drawings and convenience, and any dimension is only illustrative,and is not limited thereto. Further, the same structures, elements orcomponents illustrated in two or more drawings are designated by thesame reference numerals so as to illustrate similar features.

The exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is specificallypresented as an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. As aresult, various modifications of the drawings are expected. Therefore,the exemplary embodiments are not limited to specific forms in regionsillustrated in the drawings, and for example, include modifications offorms by the manufacture.

Hereinafter, a refrigerator according to a first exemplary embodiment ofthe present disclosure will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.The term refrigerator used herein is intended to include the class ofcooling apparatus commonly referred to as refridgerators, freezers,fridges, refridgerator-freezers and the like.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, the refrigerator 101 according to thefirst exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure includes arefrigerator main body 200, a door 400, an accommodating basket 300, aslide channel unit 250, a slide assembly 500, and a basket alignmentmember. Here, the basket alignment member may include a rack gear unit610, and a pinion gear unit 620.

The refrigerator may further include a basket bracket 350, and a pinionrotation shaft 621.

The refrigerator main body 200 has one or more storage chambers 205, anda cold air supply device (not illustrated) which supplies cold air tothe storage chamber 205. In FIG. 1, the refrigerator main body 200 mayhave, for example, a pair of storage chambers 205 that are disposedvertically, but the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosureis not limited thereto. That is, the refrigerator main body 200 may havea single storage chamber 205, or may have three or more storage chambers205.

The storage chambers 205 of the refrigerator main body 200 may bedivided into a refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber based on atemperature. That is, the respective storage chambers 205 may keep foodcold or frozen, as necessary.

In the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the storagechamber 205 of the main body 200 has an front side that may be openedand closed by the door 400, which will be described below.

The cold air supply device (not illustrated) may include a compressor, acondenser, an expansion valve, an evaporator, a blower fan, a cold airduct, and the like. The cold aire supply device generates cold air tomaintain a desired temperature range in the storage chamber 205.Further, the refrigerator main body 200 may farther include a thermalinsulator for preventing cold air from leaking.

A machine room, in which the compressor for compressing refrigerant andthe condenser for condensing the compressed refrigerant are installed,may be provided at a rear lower side of the refrigerator main body 200.

The door 400 is installed at the front side of the storage chamber 205,and may selectively open and. close the interior of the storage chamber205.

In the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the door400 is slidingly closed and opened toward a front side of the storagechamber 205. in this case, the door 400 slides together with anaccommodating basket 300 that will be described below. Further, the door400 may be formed integrally with the accommodating basket 300, or maybe manufactured separately from the accommodating basket 300 and thencoupled to the accommodating basket 300.

A knob, which may be gripped by a user, may be provided on the door 400.

As described above, the accommodating basket 300 is installed so as tobe slidingly withdrawn from and drawn back in, together with, the door400, to the interior of the storage chamber 205 of the refrigerator mainbody 200.

The accommodating basket 300 accommodates food or various items to bestored in the storage chamber 205.

The slide channel units 250 may be fixedly installed on inner surfacesat both lateral sides of the storage chamber 205 of the refrigeratormain body 200, respectively. That is, one or more pairs of slide channelunits 250 may be provided, respectively, at both lateral sides of thestorage chamber 205 which face each other.

For example, the slide channel unit 250 may be formed in a “⊂” or “C”shape. In this case, open regions of the slide channel units 250 aredirected toward a center of the storage chamber 205, respectively.

The slide assembly 500 is provided inside the slide channel unit 250,and slidably couples the refrigerator main body 200 and theaccommodating basket 300 to each other.

The slide assembly 500 includes a guide rail 510 which is installed tobe adjacent to the slide channel unit 250, a sliding rail 530 which isinstalled between the guide rail 510 and the accommodating basket 300,and a middle rail 520 which is installed between the guide rail 510 andthe sliding rail 530.

The middle rail 520 serves to extend the guide rail. 510 in order toincrease a length by which the accommodating basket 300 is withdrawn.The middle rail 520 may be omitted, as necessary.

The sliding rail 530 allows the accommodating basket 300 to be withdrawnforward while sliding along the guide rail 510 and the middle rail 520.

Although not illustrated, various types of bearings, which are publiclyknown to those skilled in the art, may be provided between the guiderail 510, the middle rail 520, and the sliding rail 530.

The rack gear units 610 may be provided at outer lower sides of the oneor more pairs of slide channel units 250. That is, in the firstexemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the rack gear unit 610is installed relatively below the slide assembly 500, and teeth of therack gear unit 610 protrude downward.

The pinion, gear unit 620 is installed on the accommodating basket 300and engages with the rack gear unit 610, Further, in the first exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure, the pinion gear unit 620 ispositioned below the slide assembly 500. That is, the pinion gear unit620 overlaps the slide assembly 500 in a vertical direction.

A pair of pinion gear units 620, which face each other, are providedwith the accommodating basket 300 interposed therebetween. Further, thepair of pinion, gear units 620, which feces each other with theaccommodating basket 300 therebetween, are coaxially rotated, that is,identically rotated. The pair of pinion gear units 620 may be connectedto the same pinion rotation shaft 621. The pinion rotation shaft isoperable for the pinion gear unit to coaxially rotate together when theaccommodating basket slides in a linear direction, into and out from theopen front side of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main bodyalong a pair of slide assemblies.

The basket bracket 350 supports the pinion gear unit 620 and the slidingrail 530 of the slide assembly 500, and couples the pinion gear unit 620and the sliding rail 530 to the accommodating basket 300.

According to the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure asdescribed above, as the pinion gear unit 620 engages with the rack gearunit 610 and rotates, the slide assembly 500 moves the accommodatingbasket 300 forward and rearward.

Therefore, the slide assemblies 500, which are provided at the lateralsides of the accommodating basket 300, respectively, are operated inconjunction with the accommodating basket 300 when the accommodatingbasket 300 is slidingly drawn in and out. Accordingly, it is possible toprevent the accommodating basket 300 from deviating leftward andrightward while being eccentrically withdrawn toward any one sidebecause one slide assembly 500 is withdrawn before or after the otherslide assembly 500 is withdrawn.

According to the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure,the slide assemblies 500, which allow the accommodating basket 300 toslide, and the pinion gear unit 620 and the rack gear unit 610, whichsynchronize operations of the slide assemblies 500 installed at both ofthe lateral sides, are disposed to overlap each other in the verticaldirection, thereby minimizing a gap between the inner surface of thestorage chamber 205 of the refrigerator main body 200 and theaccommodating basket 300. That is, it is possible to maximize anaccommodation capacity of the accommodating basket 300.

With the aforementioned configuration, in the refrigerator 101 accordingto the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, theaccommodating basket 300, which is slidingly withdrawn, may be stablywithdrawn without deviating leftward and rightward, and an accommodationcapacity of the accommodating basket 300 may be maximized byimplementing the compact slide assembly 500 that allows theaccommodating basket 300 to slide.

Hereinafter, a second exemplary embodiment of the present disclosurewill be described with reference to FIG. 4.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, a rack gear unit 610 of a refrigerator 102according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present disclosureis provided at an outer upper side of each of one or more pairs slidechannel units 250. That is, the rack gear unit 610 is installedrelatively above a slide assembly 500, and teeth of the rack gear unit610 protrude upward.

A pinion gear unit 620 is installed on an accommodating basket 300 andengages with the rack gear unit 610. Further, in the second exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure, the pinion gear unit 620 ispositioned above the slide assembly 500, and overlaps the slide assembly500 in a vertical direction.

With the aforementioned configuration, in the refrigerator 102 accordingto the second exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the piniongear unit 620 and the rack gear unit 630 may stably engage each other.

Specifically, since the pinion gear unit 620, which is installed on theaccommodating basket 300, is disposed above the rack gear unit 610 andengages the rack gear unit 610, a load of the accommodating basket 300is applied in a direction in which die pinion gear unit 620 and the rackgear unit 610 engage each other.

Therefore, even if a large amount of load is applied to theaccommodating basket 300 or the accommodating basket 300 deviates, thepinion gear unit 620 may not deviate from, the rack gear unit 610 andmaintain the state in which the pinion gear unit 620 and the rack gearunit 610 stably engage each other.

Hereinafter, a third exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure willbe described with reference to FIG. 5.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, in a refrigerator 103 according to the thirdexemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, one or more pairs of.rack gear units 630 are installed on an accommodating basket 300, oneor more pairs of pinion gear units 620, which engage the rack gear units610, are installed on inner surfaces at both lateral sides of a storagechamber 205 of a refrigerator main body 200, respectively.

Specifically, the rack gear units 610 are installed on the accommodatingbasket 300 so as to be directed toward the inner surfaces at bothlateral sides of the storage chamber 205 of the .refrigerator main body200, respectively. Further, the pinion gear unit 620 engages the rackgear unit 610. in this case, the pinion gear unit 620 may be positionedabove or below a slide assembly 500 so as to overlap the slide assembly500 in a vertical direction.

In the third exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the rackgear unit 610 installed on the accommodating basket 300 is disposed tobe positioned above the pinion gear unit 620 installed on therefrigerator main body 200.

With the aforementioned configuration, in the refrigerator 103 accordingto the third exemplary embodiment of the present, disclosure, the piniongear unit 620 and the rack gear unit 610 may stably engage each other.

Specifically, since the rack gear unit 610, which is installed on. theaccommodating basket 300, is disposed above the pinion gear unit 620 andengages the pinion gear unit 620, a load of the accommodating basket 300is applied in a direction in which the rack gear unit 630 and the piniongear unit 620 engage each other.

Therefore, even if a large amount of load is applied to theaccommodating basket 300 or the accommodating basket 300 deviates, thepinion gear unit 620 may not deviate from the rack gear unit 610 andmaintain the state in which the pinion gear unit 620 and the rack gearunit 610 stably engage each other.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, in a refrigerator 103 according to a fourthexemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, one or more pairs ofrack gear units 610 are provided at lowers edges of the respective sliderails. One or more pairs of pinion gear units 620 are coupled torespective guide rails and engage the rack gear units. With theaforementioned configuration, according to the fourth examplaryembodiment of the present disclosure, the pinion gear unit 620 and therack gear unit 610 may stably engage each other.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various embodiments ofthe present disclosure have been described herein for purposes ofillustration, and that various modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.Accordingly, the various embodiments disclosed herein are not intendedto be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A refrigerator comprising: a refrigerator mainbody which, has a storage chamber having an open front side, a pair oflateral sides and a back side; an accommodating basket; a pair of slidechannel units which are installed on inner surfaces at both of thelateral sides of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body,respectively; a pair of slide assemblies which are provided inside thepair of slide channel units, respectively, and are operable for theaccommodating basket to slide In a linear direction into and out fromthe open front side of the storage chamber of the refrigerator mainbody; and a basket alignment member coupled between the accommodatingbasket and. each lateral side of the storage chamber of the refrigeratormain body, wherein the basket, alignment member is operable for theaccommodating basket to stably slide without substantially deviatingside to side from the linear direction into and out from the open frontside of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body.
 2. Therefrigerator of claim t, wherein the basket alignment member includes: apair rack gear units which are provided at outer upper sides or outerlower sides of the pair of slide channel units; and a pair of piniongear units coupled to the accommodating basket and engage the rack gearunits, respectively.
 3. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein the basketalignment member further includes a pinion rotation shaft coupledbetween the pair of pinion gear units.
 4. The refrigerator of claim 2,wherein the slide assembly includes: a guide rail, which is installed tobe adjacent to the slide channel unit; a sliding rail which is installedbetween the guide rail and the accommodating basket; and a middle railwhich is installed between the guide rail and the sliding rail.
 5. Therefrigerator of claim 2, wherein the pair of pinion gear units, whichfaces each other with the accommodating basket interposed therebetween,are coaxially rotated when the accommodating basket slides in a lineardirection into and out from the open front side of the storage chamberof the refrigerator main body.
 6. The refrigerator of claim 2, whereinthe rack gear unit is installed relatively below the slide assembly, andteeth of the rack gear unit protrude downward.
 7. The refrigerator ofclaim 2, wherein the rack gear unit is installed relatively above theslide assembly, and teeth of the rack gear unit protrude upward.
 8. Therefrigerator of claim 1, wherein the basket alignment member includes: apair of rack gear units coupled to the accommodating basket so as to bedirected toward inner surfaces at both lateral sides of the storagechamber of the refrigerator main body, respectively, and spaced apartfrom the slide channel units; and a pair of pinion gear units coupled tothe inner surfaces at both of the lateral sides of the storage chamberof the refrigerator main body and engage the rack gear units,respectively.
 9. The refrigerator of claim 8, wherein the basketalignment member further includes a pinion rotation shaft coupledbetween the pair of pinion gear units.
 10. The refrigerator of claim S,wherein the slide assembly includes: a guide rail which is installed tobe adjacent to the slide channel unit; a sliding tail which is installedbetween the guide rail and the accommodating basket; and a middle railwhich is installed between the guide rail and the sliding rail.
 11. Therefrigerator of claim 8, wherein the pair of pinion gear units, whichfeces each other with the accommodating basket interposed therebetween,are coaxially rotated when the accommodating basket slides in a lineardirection into and out from the open front side of the storage chamberof the refrigerator main body.
 12. The refrigerator of claim 8, whereinthe rack gear unit is positioned, above the pinion gear unit.
 13. Therefrigerator of claim 1, wherein the pair of slide assemblies eachincludes, a guide rail which is installed to be adjacent to the slidechannel unit; and a slide rail which is installed between the guide railand the accommodating basket, and the basket alignment member includes,a pair of rack gear units which are provided at lowers edges of therespective slide rails of the pair of slide assemblies, and a pair ofpinion gear traits coupled to. the respective guide rails of the pair ofslide assemblies and engage the rack gear units.
 14. The refrigerator ofclaim 13, wherein the basket alignment member further includes a pinionrotation shaft coupled between the pair of pinion gear units.
 15. Therefrigerator of claim 13, wherein the pair of pinion gear units coupledtogether by the pinion rotation shaft are coaxially rotated togetherwhen the accommodating basket slides in the linear direction into andout from the open front side of the storage chamber of the refrigeratormain body along the pair of slide assemblies.